Hook and eye tapes are commonly used in undergarments and brassieres to provide a flexible but firm coupling. In general, an array of hooks is sewn onto a first tape aligned in rows and columns. A complementary array of eyes is sewn into a second tape and by engaging different hooks and eyes a degree of lengthwise adjustment is obtained.
Both the hooks and eyes are typically formed of a stiff metal wire with anchors in a form such as a ring at opposing ends of the wire. A planar side of the hooks and eyes lies against the tape and individual hooks and eyes are sewn to the tape over or adjacent the anchors. The tape may be folded to cover the anchors to prevent snagging and unwanted contact between the anchors and the undergarment wearer's skin. The embedment disadvantageously thickens the tape and gives a rough finishing.
In another method to mask the anchors soft textile cover strips are sewn over the anchors between longitudinally spaced rows of hooks and eyes. Formation and securing of the cover strips requires additional cutting and sewing steps. The additional steps increase the complexity and cost for manufacturing the fastener.
The cover strips, commonly made of nylon tricot, are folded when sewn to the tape in order to hide the rough cutting edges of the cover strips and to mask the anchors properly. The individual layers of cover strips are in overlapping relationship to each other. This increases the overall thickness which aside from detracting from the overall aesthetics of the garment, oftentimes, the outline of the fastener is visible through outer tight fitting garments and provides discomfort to the wearer.
During the manufacturing process, continuous strips of hooks and eyes are severed at intervals to produce the individual tapes. The individual tapes bear sharp edges. As these tapes are commonly sewn to undergarments for coupling, they end up rubbing against the skin of the wearer. To avoid continuous abrasion that would renders the garment uncomfortable to wear. Mechanical grinding may be used to smooth out the sharp edges. However, the smoothened edges may still cause discomfort after prolonged exposure to the wearer. This is especially the case when the undergarment is to support a relatively large passive gravitational mass.
At the high end market, undergarments, lingerie and brassieres are fashion which brings out the figurative beauty of a woman. They are seen as accessories rather than hidden costumes. A wide range of styles of lingerie and brassieres now exists, to be worn in a variety of situations, and with a variety of outergarments. The degree of shaping and coverage varies between styles, functionality and fashion, fabric, and colour, from purely utilitarian to sensual. Hence most of them are an attempt by designers to produce a garment which fulfils a practical role, while being an attractive piece of clothing in itself. Appearance and tactile of the individual tapes may be considered unsatisfactory where the stitches and seams are visible.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages or more generally to provide an economical way of producing thin seamless fasteners that are comfortable to wear.